


Clearing the Air

by lextenou



Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 17:45:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11742021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lextenou/pseuds/lextenou
Summary: Ron has some things he needs to get off his chest.





	Clearing the Air

**Author's Note:**

> Response to a challenge from Eoraptor, originally posted to KP Slash Haven.

"First, it was her dad. Every date, every time - bring her home on time, she better be in one piece, ain't no way you're touching my little girl. The dad line." Ron rubbed his face harshly and took a long pull from the coffee mug on the squat table. "Then it was the missions. Sorry, Ron, we can't tonight, gotta save the mayor of Istanbul. Oh, gotta cancel, the premier of Russia needs a favor. Gee, wish I could go with you but I just got a call from the Red Cross station in Somalia." A sardonic grin curved his lips. "Always on the other side of the world, notice that? Then it was the arguments that we were too young, we weren't ready, it didn't feel right...those I could see. I agreed some with those - but, hell, how was I ever supposed to learn if we didn't experiment?"  
  
Standing abruptly, he walked over to the window and stared down at the street, miniscule dots racing across the sidewalk as people hurried to their destinations. Quietly, he continued. "I still didn't give up. How could I? She was my first love. I fell for her in the kind of way that a man only does once in life, when he's young and easily influenced."  
  
Turning his head, he pinned his listener with a hard stare that spoke of the long years he had put into his profession. "I never gave up on her." Turning back to the window, he frowned at a small cluster of pigeons on the sill. "I was hurt when she started pulling away, but I didn't really think much about it. I figured she'd come back to me. She always had before - its what made us so close. We were always there for one another."  
  
He turned and leaned his back against the window, his arms crossing over his chest. "It was hard, admitting that I was as wrong for her as she was for me. What could she really offer me, in a relationship? Hell, if we tried it now, we'd kill each other." He laughed softly. "Purely a what if, if you get my drift."  
  
He stretched his neck and returned to his seat, scooping up the mug for another swig. "What sealed it, what really drove it all home, even as I was admitting it to myself, was that suit. It was that fucking suit. You heard about the suit, the Centurion suit? The goddamned thing started lashing out at me. You know what hurt the most about that? It was that it was hooked directly into her subconscious. The things she couldn't admit even to herself were blared to the world by that suit.  _That_ is why only one was ever produced. They still can't figure out how to put a filter on that. The human brain, hey?"  
  
Sighing, he shook his head. "It...I remember there was this one time, where she fell. It didn't have a jetpack. I did. I tried to save her - we'd already broken up! Agreed on mutual differences! And the goddamned suit  _still_ stabbed me! It was like a nasty junkyard dog and it zeroed in on me." He stared at the table for a long silent moment. "It hurt. It was like she didn't trust me. I was there to help her and she pushed me away."  
  
"Can you expand on that?"  
  
He laughed shortly. "That's pretty much all there is to it. She pushed me away. I know, now, that it was her way of dealing. It's always her way of dealing. She can't fit it into her little preconceived definitions so she has to shove it away. I can't even begin to tell you what it did to her to meet my fiancee for the first time." A brief, tender smile softened his features. "Its her fault I'm here."  
  
"Why don't you tell me about her?"  
  
He laughed. "She's wonderful. I was freaked out that she'd never fit in, but she charmed the hell outta my parents right off. Threw me for a loop. I'd always figured her for more of the scare-the-'rents-away type." His eyes drifted as he recalled her memory. "There's just something about her that keeps drawing me in. She scared the hell outta me when I first met her." Shaking his head, he allowed himself a brief half-smile. "I'm not here to gush about her, though."  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"Because I need to get this out. I support her. I support  _them_. But God, it  _hurt_ , and not just because I lost the use of my left hand for six months while it healed. It hurt because I was trying to help and I felt like I was the only one who could see clearly! The suit was starting to go nuts whenever anyone except She- anyone except the woman she wanted came close. She didn't seem freaked when it went for her brothers, but I was. The suit was starting to become a menace and I felt there was nothing for it. I asked another friend of mine to help, tried to bounce some ideas off of him."  
  
His cheeks flushed. "Unfortunately, that's what led to the rockslide. We'd both forgotten that there were plasma cannons that could be used to get them out."  
  
He looked down at his feet. "Ultimately, though, it was me canceling on going to the boardwalk's opening day with her that led to them working it out. If I'd been there, I would have gotten in the way." He took a deep breath and spoke in a quiet, measured tone. "I helped them most by staying out of the way. They didn't need anyone else to help them. They were able to come together on their own."  
  
He pinned his listener with another hard, measured stare. "Is it wrong to feel slighted by their independence?"  
  
"It sounds like both of them meant a lot to you."  
  
"They still do. We're going out for dinner tonight."  
  
"Would you have appreciated their input into you finding your fiancee?"  
  
He laughed softly. "She said the same thing. Thanks." His smile was relaxed and easy. "You're worth every overcharged penny, doc."  
  
The slender woman smiled, the light catching the metal frame of her glasses and gleaming in the subdued light. "Glad I could help, Ron. Same time next week?"  
  
He grinned and nodded, rising from his chair. "Thanks. Really. I don't know how you did it, but I feel much better now."  
  
"Sometimes, all we need is to just get it off of our chests. Something like that can weigh heavily on us if left unaddressed."  
  
Humming happily, Ron left the office and strode into the sunlight, the darkness that had loomed over him for so long beginning to lift. He squinted in the brightness and forged ahead. It may take a long time, but someday, he'd be able to forgive himself for failing his best friend.


End file.
